This invention relates to a system for transferring telephone calls and call associated data between different locations. In particular, the invention addresses the need for efficient coordination of voice and data for transfers made over separate voice and data networks.
In today""s call center industry, the xe2x80x9ccustomer""s callxe2x80x9d is no longer just a simple single telephone call to a toll-free telephone number that enters the call center from one direct source such as the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) and dealt with by a live agent handling customer queries. Telephone call and voice call refer to a connection that enables communication by voice. The connection is not necessarily a physical one, considering that electromagnetic radiation can be used as a voice carrier. Depending upon the systems used to establish the call, information other than that provided by the users voice may be transmitted during the course of the call. In addition to the traditional telephone call, the caller now has multiple ways to contact the same call center using a variety of new and evolving technologies. Among these methods of contact are IP (Internet Protocol) telephony, Interactive Voice Response systems (IVRs), customer self service applications, public kiosks, interactive TV or the worldwide web. Each of these methods can be used to contact the same call center. Within the call center many different systems and subsystems should be able to interact, share, and process the call, independent of the method by which the initial contact was made.
In the modern business environment the requirement for efficiency and flexibility has generated a need for associating various kinds of data with an incoming voice call. This data can be internally generated from sources such as a database containing caller account information, or it can be data obtained through interaction with the caller. Association of the data with the call is critical if efficient response is to be maintained as the call is transferred between subsystems or call centers. Call transfers can be vexing to a customer, particularly when a previously answered question must be answered again after a transfer, or a wait ensues as internal data is regenerated.
The call center today includes an array of different systems that are responsible for performing functions such as account balance inquiries, money transfer requests, etc. The set of functions required by a call center can vary significantly, depending upon the nature of the business enterprise that is being supported.
The call center is faced with the large and complex task of ensuring that call and data association is maintained throughout the overall network. This is a daunting task due to the lack of open standards and the burdens of proprietary interfaces and protocols. The goal of maintaining call and call data is often very difficult to undertake unless a common vendor has been chosen to implement a complete tailored solution for a call center. Often this is very expensive and limits a client as to what systems they can continue to add to their existing systems. In cases such as corporate mergers, disparate infrastructure and hardware vendors can make it difficult for the resulting combined system to accurately associate call and call data without high costs to the customer.
In view of the increased complexity of the multiple systems now involved in processing of the one customer""s call the need for a system to coordinate the call and the associated data has become apparent.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic of a typical configuration for a system utilizing independent voice and data networks for transfer of voice and data between call centers. Call centers A and B are shown connected by independent voice and data networks. Although only two call centers are shown, a system may consist of a larger number of interconnected call centers, each of which may be unique in the types of hardware and software employed. The data network may include a combination of Wide Area Networks (WANs) and Local Area Networks (LANs). A typical data network might consist of a single WAN linked to a number of LANs, each LAN being associated with a call center.
In reference to FIG. 1 an incoming voice call (hereinafter referred to simply as a call) 1 arrives over the voice network 2 at call center A. The incoming call 1 is received by an initial call processing device 3. The initial call processing device can be an IVR, Automatic Call Distributor (ACD), Private Branch Exchange (PBX), or the like. The initial call processing device in turn may transfer the call to a terminal call processing device 4 such as a telephone set or IVR. In particular call center configurations, the initial call processing device 3 and terminal call processing device 4 may be a single device.
Data is be generated at an agent workstation 5 through interaction with the calling party. The agent workstation 5 may or may not include a human operator. At the point in time when the requirement for the transfer of the call and data arises, the system shown in FIG. 1 can be characterized as a set of domains. Call center A and its subsystems at this point becomes the call processing domain and call center B and its subsystems becomes the client domain. The domain attributed to a system is dependent upon the state of the hardware/software of the system and what its immediate task is. The call processing domain consists of a system that is undertaking the task of transferring voice and associated data over two independent networks, and the client domain consists of the system linked by the voice and data networks, to which the call is being transferred. In a telecommunications system such as that depicted in FIG. 1, either call center A or call center B may serve as a call processing domain or a client domain.
The efficiency of a telecommunications system that effects transfers of voice and associated data over independent networks can be evaluated by the amount of data that must be transmitted in order to maintain the association between the call and data, and the path over which that data is transmitted.
Conventional techniques require that an identifier be associated with the call that is being transferred from call center A to call center B, and that the identifier be passed with the call over the voice network 2. At the same time, the data associated with the call, and a reference to the call identifier are passed over a data network 10 between a server A 6 and a server B 9. Since both the call and data are tagged, initial call processing device B 7 and server B 9 are able to effect a reassociation of the call and data and route them to the appropriate agent workstation B 11 and terminal call processing device B 8. The call destination is not unique, and the identifier passed with the call is necessary for successful reassociation of the data.
Existing systems rely on modifications of data passed with the voice call, such as Automatic Number Identification (ANI) and Dialed Number Identification Service (DNIS), to represent a data key. Alternatively, systems may require a defined telecommunications infrastructure (including both transition media and receiving hardware) utilizing techniques such as Integrated Services Digital Network User-to-User Information (ISDN UUI) level fields or inbound Dual-Tone Multi-frequency (DTMF) tones to support the transferring of a voice call with associated data. In these systems, identifier data generated externally to the call center is required for call and data association.
Existing systems are specific to a defined telecommunications infrastructure or hardware interfaces and as such can not be reused or deployed into other systems without revision. Many existing systems also require a minimum amount of transmitted information with the call such as DNIS to uniquely identify the call. This means that the existing systems would be unable to be deployed into a situation that does not support additional transmitted data either inband (data transmitted by tones within the voice frequency band) or outband (data transmitted by tones outside of the voice frequency band) across media such as circuit switched to packet switched networks without using proprietary protocols and/or hardware.
As an example, the transmission of DTMF tones can reduce the effectiveness of a call transfer depending on the length of the data key required to be generated. Typically, it would require 0.25 seconds to transmit DTMF tones to pass a data key inband and be recognized by a tone receiver at the destination. This delay reduces the real call processing time and would vary depending on the length of the key transmitted. Such delays increase the call processing time and reduce the throughput of a system.
In general, the voice network 2 (FIG. 1) will have less bandwidth than the data network 10. It is desirable to minimize the amount of required additional data that must be transferred with the call.
FIG. 2 shows the two call centers referred to in FIG. 1 in the process of transferring a call and associated data. At the time a transfer of a call and data is being made between two call centers, the call center from which the call is being transferred can be described as the call processing domain and the call center to which the call is being transferred can be described as the client domain. In general, any two systems involved in the transfer of a call and associated data over a voice network and a data network can be described as a combination of a call processing domain and a client domain. In conventional call transfers, the call processing domain transfers the call and additional identifier data over the voice network while transferring the associated data over the data network.
Although existing systems are capable of transferring calls and associated data between different call centers, they require the increased overhead of additional data transmission that is extraneous to the data associated with the call.
The present invention provides a system that is capable of transferring a telephone call and associated data between locations using disparate equipment and software.
Embodiments of the invention provide a system that is capable of effecting the transfer of a telephone call and associated data without requiring additional externally generated data that is extraneous to the call.
The problem of call and data association arises when a call is transferred between two dissimilar systems such as a networked IVR and an ACD or two ACDs separated by local PSTN or Tie Lines.
A Network Transfer System (NTS) normalizes the transfer of a call by using the knowledge of the call transfer destination to provide a control point within the client domain. The use of the NTS establishes a bidirectional data flow while eliminating the requirement for passing an identifier with the call over the voice network. Data is transmitted between the call processing domain and the client domain over the data network and is normalized to provide a unique identifier for the data and its associated call. NTS requires only that the call be transmitted over the voice network between the call processing domain and the client domain; no additional information such as ANI, DNIS, DTMF tones, or the like are required for calls to be transferred with associated data.
NTS obviates the requirement for the voice network to transmit extra data, and also makes unnecessary the requirement for the receiving interface to interpret the additional transmitted data. The invention does not rely on any data generated external to the call processing domain, and does not rely on data passed over the voice network to maintain association of the call and call data.